Gratitude means appreciating what we have instead of worrying about what we don’t have. It may sound simple, but cultivating gratitude takes intention and practice. Here are a few of our favorites ways you and your family can grow your gratitude practice together.

When we notice the good, we’re actively choosing a positive mindset. This is a simple way to grow gratitude — but it takes practice. Start a Notice the Good Jar to regularly notice and celebrate acts of kindness in your family.

This life-sized version of Slides and Ladders prompts children to reflect on feelings associated with different real-life scenarios. Combining outdoor time with chalk art, this Mindful Recess helps kids understand it’s okay to sit with difficult feelings.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In the midst of the pandemic, many parents and educators are left wondering how to take care of our own mental health, let alone our children’s. Knowing a bit about how the brain works can help.

Nature and art make perfect companions in this sensory outdoor project. First you’ll use your keen observation skills to collect natural materials outside. Next, you’ll use those items to create a Nature Paintbrush. Finally, you’ll paint beautiful Kindness Cards to send to people you love and care about. Let’s get started!

When we notice our breath, we can begin to slow our heart rate and anchor ourselves in the present moment. Using a Rainbow Breathing Wand is a wonderfully visual way to help us notice and regulate our breathing. Here are instructions for making your own Rainbow Breathing Wand plus a guided practice with Mindful Littles Founder Tanuka Gordon.

Using a lightly weighted eye pillow is a wonderful way to release anxiety by stimulating the vagus nerve and slowing the heart rate. Here’s how to make your own eye pillow, either for yourself or as part of a Peace Kit for someone else, plus a simple sleep meditation to help you relax and rest.

While free play outdoors is always a good option for kids, making outdoor time mindful offers additional benefits, like easing anxiety and boosting feelings of calm. This simple Clothing Cut Out project is an engaging activity to do with kids that combines art and the outdoors while helping them tap into mindfulness through their sense of sight.

That was a really great event. I held more doors open for people in the last few days than I think I have in my life.🙂 Your words were heard.

-Jennifer Kamal, Local Bay Area Parent

Mindful Littles has led two programs for our community, one for parents and children called "The Courage to be Different," and one just for children about honoring seniors. Both were absolutely wonderful! It was a pleasure to collaborate with Tanuka in planning the programs. She and her team prepared thoughtful, engaging lessons that were meaningful to the families as well as being fun, interactive, and hands-on. I believe the lessons Mindful Littles brought to our community will stick with the children for a long time. I highly recommend Mindful Littles programs!

The work that Mindful Littles does is the antithesis of the violence. With the continued threat of mass shootings, with homegrown mental illness, you don’t arm people with weapons. You pay attention; you teach compassion, you educate and help community members. This is how we change. This is how we are going to fight the good fight; not with weapons and strategies of self-defense, but by being proactive with love. I believe Mindful Littles is the solution. It will awaken our youth and help contribute to a more positive future.

- Travis Groft, Veteran

My time with Mindful Littles has solidified my commitment to youth development and empowerment, as I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing the wonderfully innovative ideas that littles have for the improvement of their communities. There are few things more gratifying than watching and helping littles turn their creativity into meaningful action, and I’m grateful to Mindful Littles for giving me the opportunity to do so.

-Iris Wu, Youth Leader, Age 19

Our Daisy Troop invited Tanuka Gordon of Mindful Littles to lead a class for our Kindergarten Daisy Scouts. Tanuka taught the girls through stories and pictures about what life is like for children living in Haiti. We decorated and put together pencil cases for students there. Tanuka also guided us through a mindful moment
incorporating yoga movements and breathing techniques. A few months later, the girls were thrilled to receive artwork back from the students in Haiti. We loved our Mindful Littles class and found that it helped to open the girls’ eyes to the world around them!

A clinician just popped into my office and shared how one of our kids loved the positive words on the hygiene kit. The youth said it felt like Christmas – all because of a hygiene kit. Amazing.

- Beth Goldberg, Director of Development for Youth Homes

Our Girl Scout troop was looking for something meaningful to do around the holidays. Mindful Littles made everything so easy and the core values of Mindful Littles and Girl Scouts were perfectly matched. The girls appeared at Las Trampas and were immediately put into action assisting disabled individuals with holiday activities and celebrating the holiday cheer. It was a labor of love on both ends. My daughter left the event and said, “That was awesome. Let’s do more of that."

- Jennifer LaForce, Bay Area Girl Scout Troop Leader

The event had quite an impact on my 7-year-old son, Caden, who, after assembling hygiene kits at your Mindful Littles event, decided to raise money for the kids in Haiti on his own. I think what you are doing through the Mindful Littles program is wonderful, and it’s obviously having an impact on children near and far… I look forward to attending another one soon!

- Kim Morrow, Local Bay Area Parent

Working with Mindful Littles has been a life changing experience. Before volunteering with this group, I’d say I was guilty of not always incorporating compassion and mindfulness into my everyday life, but since I have started volunteering with this organization I have noticed a positive change within myself.

- Danielle Castro, Youth Leader, Age 17

Mindful Littles was an integral part of our collaborative initiative, OrindaCares. OrindaCares is a partnership with Mindful Littles, the Orinda Union School District, Miramonte High School, and the City of Orinda. Mindful Littles provided not just the concept and strategy development for this partnership, but the project leadership and organization to make our initiative highly successful.

- Carolyn Seaton, Superintendent of Orinda Union School District

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